A few years ago, Henrik Thomsen, one of Europe's leading radiologists, warned his colleagues about nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF). NSF is a rare and serious syndrome that involves fibrosis of skin, joints, eyes, and internal organs. Patients develop large areas of hardened skin and a limited range of motion of the joints.

Thomsen revealed to his colleagues how twenty kidney patients treated at his hospital had contracted NSF and how every patient had been given a contrast agent for a MRI scan. He and his colleagues then alerted medical authorities to review all known cases of NSF. By the middle of 2006 the Danish Medicines Agency linked Omniscan to 25 NSF cases. Although Thomsen had no proof, he decided to not use the drug on any kidney patients and warned patients of the problem.

GE Healthcare said that Thomsen’s presentation to his colleagues was defamatory because it "accused the firm of suppressing information and marketing its product when it was aware of possible problems". As a result of the suit, Thomsen can no longer speak about the risks of Omniscan. Campaign groups fear that scientific and medical work is being threatened because of the danger of libel actions.

This month, however, an FDA advisory panel recommended that two contrast agents, Omniscan and Optimark, should not be given to patients with severe kidney disease. This represents a small victory for Thomsen, but will it be enough to win against GE who has spent over $600,00 on the case already?